You know, it occurred to
me that, with all of the 8" HALO Master Chief
figures I've reviewed -- Green, Red, Blue, Clear, White -- I've never
really given
any sort of description or overview of the HALO video game.

That's probably because I
don't own an XBox, which the game is exclusive
to.
There's also a PC version, but I doubt very much that my machine would
be
up
to it.

So, since this new Black
Master Chief is the last of the figures to be
manufactured for the HALO series, what with HALO 2 on the horizon, this
is probably
my last chance to outline the game. So I enlisted the aid of a friend
of
mine,
Terry Dizard -- who does own an XBox and is much more adept at video
games
than I am -- to provide a brief description of HALO, which I have adapted
here.

It is a time when humans
are at war with an alien race called the
Covenant.
You play a character called Master Chief, a cryogenically frozen soldier
who is
defrosted by his commander when their assault carrier comes under attack,
and
is subsequently boarded by Covenant troops.

Master Chief, according to
the information on the toy package, is a
product
of the secret SPARTAN-II project. He is the ultimate soldier, trained
from an
early age in weapons, tactics, and command. He is augmented with a neural
interface that connects him to the MJOLNIR Mark V Assault Armor, giving
him
superhuman strength, stamina, and other capabilities. Terry describes
the
Master
Chief as a sort of "Techno-SEAL", referring to the Navy SEALs,
pretty
much the
best in the business.

The assault carrier crash-lands
on a mysterious ringed planet known as
"Halo", hence the name of the game. From there, it's a "first
person
shooter" game,
as you continue in combat against the Covenant troops.

The game, created by a software
company called Bungie, has been so
successful
in promoting the XBox, that Microsoft, the company that makes the XBox,
bought the Bungie company. I'm not sure if I'd consider that flattery
or
not.

It's worth mentioning that
the HALO video game is apparently a rather
violent
piece of work, as there is a warning on the back of the toy package
that
reads, "This action figure is based on an v rated product."
In short,
while the
figure might be enjoyed by all ages, you should use more discretion
with
the
game.

The HALO Master Chief action
figure -- indeed all of the HALO action
figures,
and there is quite a collection at this point, is produced by Joyride
Studios, a division of the RC2 company. Interestingly, a sculptor credit
has been
given this time around. The Master Chief figure was sculpted by someone
named
Ching Tung Wah, and this person did an excellent job with it, too.

The new Black Master Chief
is the last in the line of 8" Master Chief
figures. According to the description of an alternate version of this
figure which
was available online (a battle-damaged version, apparently), the Black
Master
Chief serves as a sniper as much as anything. Granted, the different
colors of
armor that have been available are little more than players' choice
in
the
game, although there's apparently a rather intense "Red vs. Blue"
rivalry
out
there someplace.

Decades of advanced technology,
and we're still playing Summer Camp Color
War...

As I've said in previous
Master Chief reviews, the overall design is
excellent. It looks at once futuristic and yet somehow entirely
plausible. The
articulation is extensive, and of particular note is that the Black
Master Chief is
very tightly articulated. This is worth noting given how loosely
articulated
some of the earlier Master Chiefs have been. Joyride Studios claims
that
haven't
made any significant alterations to the molds, but I'm not so sure.
My
Red
Master Chief is downright floppy in a few areas. Not so with this guy.

That's not to put down the
Red Master Chief. I'm glad to have all of
them.
And my Black Master Chief isn't perfect. One leg seems to be very
slightly
longer than the other -- an error of assembly, I assume. I can get him
to
stand up
straight, but one leg and foot need to be very slightly bent to do it.
Further
proof that, unfortunately, quality control in the toy world is an
increasing
myth, and I don't just point to Joyride when I say that. A lot of the
big
boys
are just as guilty.

Still, it's a relatively
minor point on an otherwise excellent figure,
and
the Black Master Chief is an excellent figure. The armor portions of
his
outfit
are a metallic black, while some other areas of his uniform, which have
been
black on all versions of this figure, are more of a flat black, and
there
is a
visible difference, especially if you take the figure outdoors or into
other
bright light.

He doesn't come with any
really unusual weapons, such as the White Master
Chief's flamethrower or the Blue Master Chief's alien-looking weapon,
but
the
weapons he does come with are suitably impressive, including the
bazooka-looking
thing that has the letters "SPNKr" stenciled on either side
of it. For
the
imaginative, that can spell out a pretty -- um -- descriptive word.
And
not an
entirely inappropriate one, either.

The Black Master Chief also
comes with a rifle, and a small, rather
alien-looking gizmo that I'm honestly not certain what the heck it is.

There's no question that
HALO is a popular game. Anticipation over the
forthcoming sequel is rampant. There is a series of paperback novels
--
rather an
interesting sideline given that I would think there's some question
over
how
much the average video game addict actually reads, but if these books
encourage
them to do so, then I'm all for it. And of course there is this extensive
line
of action figures. I'm honestly surprised there haven't been comic books
or a
movie based on this concept. It seems tailor-made for such venues.

Do I recommend the Black
Master Chief? Definitely. He's certainly a very
cool
entry in the line. The figure is mostly black, with really only the
gold-chrome helmet visor standing out. This makes him look that much
meaner, and a
formidable fighter and opponent. And if you have the other Master Chiefs,
you'll
certainly want to complete your collection.

So, what will the HALO 2
Master Chief figure be like? Don't know. Joyride
has
stated that they plan to maintain the same level of detail, and bring
in
even
more articulation, so it should be interesting. Not sure when it comes
out,
but I look forward to it. Meanwhile, I'm glad to have the Black Master
Chief to
complete my collection!